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Start: Whatstandwell Station Car Park

A varied walk taking in canal heritage, woodland, hillside paths and far reaching views across the Derwent Valley, with links to Arkwright, Babington, Smedley and Florence Nightingale.

1. Cross the ornate footbridge over the railway. Halfway up bear right to join the canal towpath. Turn left and follow the Cromford Canal under the stone bridge and on for 250 m.
   The canal opened in 1794 and once ran 14.5 miles from Cromford to Langley Mill. The stretch between Cromford and Ambergate is now a wildlife haven supporting little grebes and water voles.
2. Turn left through the gap in the wall and cross the bridge. Turn left and climb the woodland path. Go through the metal gate, cross the road carefully, and continue on the path opposite.
3. Follow the path uphill through the wood past old quarries. Cross the bridge over the stream and continue through the kissing gate and meadow to the next gate. Walk through the wood to a stile, then straight across the open field to a stile by the road.
4. Turn left along the road and cross to the footpath opposite. Go straight ahead on the track past Wakebridge Farm. When the track splits, take the left-hand route uphill through the wood, then continue between stone walls. Turn left over the stile into the field.
   Views from here include Alport Heights, Riber Castle and Crich Stand.
5. Cross the field diagonally to join the track to the road. Cross to the footpath opposite. Follow it through four fields to a wooden gate, cross the stream, then continue into a sunken lane. Turn right, then left through the gate. Cross the field diagonally to another gate and through two squeeze stiles before descending diagonally to the metal gate.
6. Follow the track to the road and cross carefully by the red phone box. Turn left downhill through Lea village. At the kissing gate turn right down the steps to the bridge, then climb through the wood and fields to Dethick Church, keeping the wall on your left.
   Dethick Manor belonged to Sir Anthony Babington, who in 1586 plotted to rescue Mary Queen of Scots from Wingfield Manor. Both he and Mary were executed.
7. Pass to the right of the church and follow the lane to the road. Turn left for 650 m. At the bottom, turn left past the houses, then right at the fork. Take the footpath on the right downhill to stepping stones.
8. Cross the stream and follow the undulating woodland path. Go through the squeeze stile to the lane and turn left. Cross into the field and climb steeply through three fields, then diagonally to the top corner of the fifth. Continue with the hedge on your left to a stile. Enter Hearthstone Lane and turn left. At the fork take the right-hand lane down to the metal gate.
   Fine views open over Cromford, developed by Sir Richard Arkwright for his textile workers. You may spot Cromford Mill, Willersley Castle, the Wharf, Black Rock and Matlock Bath.
9. Continue downhill through the fields.
   Castle Top Farm on your right was the childhood home of writer Alison Uttley, author of Little Grey Rabbit and A Traveller in Time, which features the Babington Plot.
   Go through the metal gate and follow the lane between buildings. Turn left up the drive and at Sunnybank take the footpath ahead into the wood. Continue through Bow Wood to reach Lea Road near Smedley’s Mill.
   Lea Mills, founded in 1784, still produces textiles and is believed to be the world’s longest running factory manufacturer.
10. Turn left along the road and head uphill on Mill Lane. Cross the road and take the footpath opposite Hollins Wood Close. Keep the stone wall on your left and continue through the wood and over the large stone stile, with Lea Hurst on your right.
    Lea Hurst was a childhood home of Florence Nightingale, famed for reforming nursing during the Crimean War and earning the name "The Lady with the Lamp".
11. Continue with the boundary on your right, then turn right through the double kissing gate into the deer park. Go through the second double gate and take the path down to the Cromford Canal. Turn right and follow the towpath back to Whatstandwell, with views of the River Derwent to your right.

Disclaimer

Please note that the council update these leaflets on a periodic rolling basis and that some landmark information may have changed. The footpaths should remain in place and be signposted and be clearly marked on the Ordnance Survey maps. Please report problems you may find so that these can be investigated to tourism@ambervalley.gov.uk.